Over and over again the general public of this country and others in the West are assured by our politicians and media that it is only a small minority of Muslims that are not peaceful followers of 'The Religion of Peace'. Many people believe this because they want to believe it.
The trouble is that poll after poll shows this position to be untrue. I've blogged about this before, showing the Pew opinion polls that reveal what Palestinians really think about Israel and Jews, results that institutionally anti Israel news organisations such as the BBC never ever report. Brainwashing the public that Israel is evil, racist and war loving, whilst the Palestinians are peace loving innocents can only succeed if the truth is withheld from the public you're trying to brainwash.
Opinion polls in the West that try to discover what Western Muslims think are less common but no less scary, and thus no less well reported.
I found this American report on a 2006 NOP poll carried out for Channel 4 that shares the bejesus out of me.
'The results from NOP Research, broadcast by Channel 4-TV on August 7, are startling.Forty-five percent say 9/11 was a conspiracy by the American and Israeli governments. This figure is more than twice as high as those who say it was not a conspiracy. Tragically, almost one in four British Muslims believe that last year's 7/7 attacks on London were justified because of British support for the U.S.-led war on terror.When asked, "Is Britain my country or their country?" only one in four say it is. Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law. According to the report, "Half of those who express a preference for living under Sharia law say that, given the choice, they would move to a country governed by those laws."Twenty-eight percent hope for the U.K. one day to become a fundamentalist Islamic state. This comports with last year's Daily Telegraph newspaper survey that found one-third of British Muslims believe that Western society is decadent and immoral and that Muslims should seek to end it.The news is no less alarming on the question of freedom of speech. Seventy-eight percent support punishment for the people who earlier this year published cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. Sixty-eight percent support the arrest and prosecution of those British people who "insult Islam." When asked if free speech should be protected, even if it offends religious groups, 62 percent of British Muslims say No, it should not.Also concerning freedom of speech, as the NOP Research survey reports, "hardcore Islamists" constitute nine percent of the British Muslim population. A slightly more moderate group is composed of "staunch defenders of Islam." This second group comprises 29 percent of the British Muslim population. Individuals in this group aggressively defend their religion from internal and external threats, real or imagined.The scary reality is that only three percent of British Muslims "took a consistently pro-freedom of speech line on these questions." The Muslim threat to British security is so severe that the assistant London police commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, has called for an inquiry into the radicalization of young Muslims. Ghaffur sadly describes "a generation of angry young people vulnerable to exploitation." '
28% of British Muslims in 2006 hope for the UK to become a fundamentalist Islamic State.
"hardcore Islamists" constitute nine percent of the British Muslim population. A slightly more moderate group is composed of "staunch defenders of Islam." This second group comprises 29 percent of the British Muslim population. Individuals in this group aggressively defend their religion from internal and external threats, real or imagined.
28%, 9%, 29%... 38% doesn't seem like a small minority to me. It seems like a very scary amount of people indeed.
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